Signing of Grant Agreement with Uganda: Improving access to safe water through the construction of rural water supply facilities

Press Releases

May 8, 2017

Signing of Grant Agreement with Uganda: Improving access to safe water through the construction of rural water supply facilities

signing ceremony

On May 5, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a grant agreement with the Government of the Republic of Uganda in Kampala to provide grant aid of up to 1.706 billion yen for the Project for Rural Water Supply in Lake Kyoga Basin, Eastern Uganda.

The project will provide water supply systems with conduits and a storage tank* in nine densely populated communities in five districts located in the Lake Kyoga Basin of Eastern Uganda, thereby increasing the water supply and improving sanitation and access to safe water.

The low access rate to safe water in Uganda creates such problems as a high incidence of waterborne diseases originating in unsanitary water, and the necessity of fetching water that results in a low school enrollment ratio among children and hinders the social advancement of females. The rural water supply rate in Uganda is merely 65 percent (2015), and the average water supply rate is even lower, approximately 57 percent, in the five target districts in the Lake Kyoga Basin. There are a number of high-density communities with a high water demand in those five districts due to the public institutions, commercial institutions and other such facilities located there; yet, the water supply rate in those communities is 10 to 40 percent lower than other communities, and improving the water supply rate of the target area is a priority.

The project will construct nine water supply systems, which are expected to ensure at least an additional 580 cubic meters of water each day. This should reduce the labor required for residents to fetch water while supplying safe drinking water in the target area, which is expected to reduce waterborne illnesses.

Through cooperation in the water supply field, including this project, JICA is contributing to ensuring the “availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all,” which is one of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015.

* A simple water supply setup that pumps groundwater to an elevated water tank for distribution to community taps and the like through a gravity feed

[Basic project information]

Country

Republic of Uganda

Project title

The Project for Rural Water Supply in Lake Kyoga Basin, Eastern Uganda

Planned implementation period

26 months, including detailed design work and the bidding period

Executing agency

Directorate of Water Development, Ministry of Water and Environment

Target region, facilities

Nine water supply systems in five districts located in the Lake Kyoga Basin of Eastern Uganda

Specific project details (provisional)

(1) Facility improvements
Construction of nine water supply systems (simple water supply setups for community water taps constructed with conduits): water intake equipment, water reservoirs, water distribution equipment, community taps (total: 88), public institution water distribution pipes (total conduit length: 115 kilometers)
(2) Consulting services
Detailed design work, bidding assistance, construction and procurement supervision. Training and technical support: capacity-building for the operation and maintenance of the water supply systems.